Nyeri
Encyclopedia
Nyeri is a town in situated in the Central Highlands of Kenya Kenya
, which was the administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province
. Following the dissolution of the former provinces by Kenya's new constitution in 2010, Nyeri is now the largest town in the newly created Nyeri County.
The town is situated about 150 km (a two hour drive) north of Kenya's capital Nairobi
, in the country's densely populated and fertile Central Highlands, lying between the eastern base of the Aberdare
(Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley
, and the western slopes of Mount Kenya
.
The town's population as at 2010 according to the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census was 119,273 with 36,412 households.There is however a significant population of mainly Government and corporate workers ordinarily resident in Nyeri but who chose during the census to be counted in their areas of origin or areas where their families are resident.
Nyeri's Central Business District is small. Its general appearance, owing mostly to lack of sidewalk paving and the basic decoration of its buildings, is dusty and old, though there are some new construction developments and building renovations. While small business activities are vibrant, Nyeri is essentially a government administration town.
The town has a relatively low cost of living in comparison to Nairobi and other major towns in Kenya. Located in Kenya's fertile highlands, food and water are plentiful and relatively cheap.
Towards the end of 1902, as the British were establishing their colonial presence, Richard Meinertzhagen
marched a strong military column meeting spirited resistance from the native Kikuyu warriors led by Wangombe Wa Ihura. The Kikuyu were eventually defeated. After Meinertzhagen's victory, a decision was reached to site a British post close to a little hill on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The Kikuyu called the hill Kia-Nyiri while their Maasai neighbours called the hill Na-aier. The post took its name from the little hill. On 18 December 1902, Nyeri was founded.
Shortly after the establishment of the post, a trickle of European settlers and missionaries and Indian merchants began to migrate into Nyeri and the surrounding areas. The town soon burgeoned into a trading centre for white settler farmers who produced cattle, wheat and coffee. The White Rhino Hotel, Outspan Hotel
, and the Aberdare Country Club at nearby Mweiga are relics of those colonial days.
as well as Kenya's official language, English.
About 5 km from the Town Centre is the Mathari Mission settlement, a complex of several Catholic buildings and institutions, established by Italian missionaries
at the beginning of the 20th century. The mission is composed of convents for nuns, schools, a teacher training college and other vocational colleges. It also hosts the Consolata Hospital and School of Nursing, which is staffed largely by nuns of the Consolata order.
, which was recently upgraded from a technical college. Various Kenyan public universities and institutes have satellite campuses within the town. in addition karatina university college has been upgraded{2010} making the district to have two universities
The national state Police Training College is situated in the town. There is a Medical Training College, a government nursing school, two polytechnic colleges, and several private and public secondary and primary schools. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri runs several schools and colleges in Nyeri.
The main industrial plants are a Coca-Cola bottling plant, a water and fruit juice bottling plant, a number of tea and coffee processing factories, a milk processing and packaging factory owned and run by the Kenya Co-operative Creameries Ltd, and a number of maize millers. There is also a wide range of largely unsophisticated light industries, including motor vehicle repair garages, electronics repair shops, furniture workshops, tailoring shops, and bakeries.
A major industry in Nyeri is farming, which is mostly unmechanized.
The town area is actually part of the surrounding rural areas of greater Nyeri County, with farms within the municipality blending seamlessly into the rural area. The main cash crop
s are Coffee
and tea
, grown mainly by smallholders who are organized into quasi-private state-supported and supervised co-operatives or companies for farm input distribution, basic processing and marketing purposes. The main food crops are Maize
, the staple food in most of Kenya, legumes (especially beans and peas), tubers (mainly potatoes), and vegetables (especially tomatoes, cabbage, spinach and kale). Livestock, mainly dairy cattle, goats, sheep, and chicken are also widely kept. Food crop and livestock farming are also done by smallholders, with marketing and distribution of surplus produce (after farmers' own consumption) being done privately.
Tourism is also significant, as there are many tourist destinations nearby, including the Aberdare and Mount Kenya National Parks, and a number of good hotels offering conference tourism and short upcountry holidays.
Water provision services are quite good, with well-distributed clean and safe drinking water being available straight from the tap.
The sewage system is growing at a good pace, though the use of soak pits, pit latrines and septic tanks is still widespread. The towns sloppy topography allows nature to mainly take care of storm water drainage.
Phone services, especially mobile telephony, and internet services are widely available, increasingly affordable and reliable, with internet speeds and bandwidth improving rapidly following the continuing laying of a fibre optic cable network around the town linking the town to offshore submarine cables recently landed on Kenya's coast; and continued improvement and increasing affordability of phone operator internet provision services.
Electricity provision is also adequate, affordable and reliable.
, Nakuru
, Nanyuki
, Othaya
and other surrounding towns. Most transportation of cargo to and from Nyeri is by road, although the town has a largely underutilized railway station at Kiganjo (about six kilometers out of town towards Nanyuki) on the branchline of the railway from Nairobi
to Nanyuki
, and an Airstrip at Mweiga (about 15 Kilometers out of Town towards Nakuru) and another airstrip at Nyaribo (off the Nanyuki - Naromoru highway). The main mode of public passenger transport to, from, and within Nyeri is by way of fourteen-seater minibus taxis (matatus), though un-metered saloon car taxis are also widely used.
The Italian War Memorial Chapel, located at Mathari,was built in honor of the fallen Italian soldiers and their African recruits from the Second World War. It is used not for regular worship, but only to celebrate a special mass on every 2 November in memory of the fallen soldiers. On the entire walling of the main church building are memorials for the many Italian servicemen who died during WWII. Each memorial is in the form of a small oblong plaque indicating the name of the soldier, the battalion he served in, and the place where he died. At the far front before the altar is the grave of a senior Italian army officer.
Nyeri is the burial place
of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, a fighter in the Boer War
and the founder of the Scouting
movement, who once wrote "the nearer to Nyeri the nearer to bliss". He and his wife are buried in the town cemetery. Lord Baden-Powell's Paxtu cottage, now a small museum, stands on the grounds of the Outspan Hotel. Nyeri remains the home of the worldwide scouting movement with members of the scouting movement congregating in the town from time to time for various activities and functions.
Nyeri is also the burial place of the legendary hunter/conservationist Jim Corbett
, the author of Maneaters of Kumaon (1944) who also spent his final years in Kenya.
, and starting from about twenty kilometers out of town is the Mount Kenya National Park
. Mount Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano lying strategically astride the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). It is the highest mountain in the country and the second, after Kilimanjaro, in Africa. It has two main snow covered peaks, Batian and Nelion.
Its slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Its U-shaped glacial valleys, rugged snow capped peaks, Afro-alpine desert, thirty lakes and eight different natural forest types and a variety of wildlife species make it a convergence of natural attractions. The wildlife found in the park include giant forest hog, tree hyrax, white tailed mongoose, black leopard, bongo, elephant, black rhino, suni, black fronted duiker, mole-rat and over 130 species of birds.
Activities carried out in the park include game drives, nature walks, mountain climbing, wildlife viewing, camping and cave exploration.
.
The Aberdares
is an older volcanic mountain range with shorter peaks due to longer erosion. It offers views of Mount Kenya and the Great Rift Valley
.
Its unusual vegetation, rugged terrain, deep ravines cutting through its forested eastern and western slopes, clear water streams and waterfalls combine to create an area of great scenic beauty. Its major attractions include the Lesatima and Kinangop peaks and many waterfalls, including the magnificent Karuru falls which drop 272 meters, and the Gura Falls which drop 305 meters.
The park is home to many endangered species including the rare bongo, giant forest hog, packs of the now very rare wild dogs, and endemic mole-rat and mole shrew. Other game include a large population of black rhino, leopard servile, endemic bird species, reptiles and insects.
Activities include game drives and nature walks. Both brown and rainbow trout abound in the cool mountain streams and provide excellent angling. Within the Park, the Ark and the Treetops Lodges, which are located next to watering holes, offer close proximity night game viewing. It was at Treetops Lodge
that The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (now Elizabeth II) was advised of the death of her father while on a honeymoon retreat, and her own ascent to the throne. The park is also known for the Kimathi hideouts, the Mau Mau Caves, and the Kimathi “post office” where agents used to drop messages for Mau Mau fighters during the guerrilla wars for Kenyan independence.
and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
. Many higher-end tourists stay at these ranches, including celebrities such as Prince William
and Bill Gates
.
Nyeri, as aforesaid, had been the Provincial Headquarters of the now defunct Central Province. The fate of the Provincial Administration is now the subject of intense national debate as the country transits to the new Constitution's new governance structure. In the interim,the Central Provincial Commissioner (PC) remains in Nyeri. Under him remain the District Commissioner, Nyeri Central District (DC), the Divisional Officers (DO), the Locational Chiefs and the Assistant Chiefs.
Government Departments:
Various Central Provincial and Nyeri Central District departments of the various ministries of the Government of Kenya, and central provincial offices of several Kenya Government departments and State Corporations are also still based in Nyeri.
Security:
The Central Provincial Police Officer (PPO) of the Kenya Police Service, and under him, as one of the police divisional heads, the Nyeri Divisional Police Commander (OCPD)are based in Nyeri.
represented in Parliament by an elected Member of Parliament.
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
, which was the administrative headquarters of the country's former Central Province
Central Province (Kenya)
Kenya's Central Province covers an area of 13,191 km² and is located to north of Nairobi and west of Mt. Kenya. The province had 4,383,743 inhabitants according to the 2009 census...
. Following the dissolution of the former provinces by Kenya's new constitution in 2010, Nyeri is now the largest town in the newly created Nyeri County.
The town is situated about 150 km (a two hour drive) north of Kenya's capital Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, in the country's densely populated and fertile Central Highlands, lying between the eastern base of the Aberdare
Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator...
(Nyandarua) Range, which forms part of the eastern end of the Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
, and the western slopes of Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
.
The town's population as at 2010 according to the 2009 Kenya Population and Housing Census was 119,273 with 36,412 households.There is however a significant population of mainly Government and corporate workers ordinarily resident in Nyeri but who chose during the census to be counted in their areas of origin or areas where their families are resident.
Nyeri's Central Business District is small. Its general appearance, owing mostly to lack of sidewalk paving and the basic decoration of its buildings, is dusty and old, though there are some new construction developments and building renovations. While small business activities are vibrant, Nyeri is essentially a government administration town.
The town has a relatively low cost of living in comparison to Nairobi and other major towns in Kenya. Located in Kenya's fertile highlands, food and water are plentiful and relatively cheap.
History
Richard Meinertzhagen
Colonel Richard Henry Meinertzhagen CBE DSO was a British soldier, intelligence officer and ornithologist.- Background and youth :Meinertzhagen was born into a socially connected, wealthy British family...
marched a strong military column meeting spirited resistance from the native Kikuyu warriors led by Wangombe Wa Ihura. The Kikuyu were eventually defeated. After Meinertzhagen's victory, a decision was reached to site a British post close to a little hill on the slopes of Mt. Kenya. The Kikuyu called the hill Kia-Nyiri while their Maasai neighbours called the hill Na-aier. The post took its name from the little hill. On 18 December 1902, Nyeri was founded.
Shortly after the establishment of the post, a trickle of European settlers and missionaries and Indian merchants began to migrate into Nyeri and the surrounding areas. The town soon burgeoned into a trading centre for white settler farmers who produced cattle, wheat and coffee. The White Rhino Hotel, Outspan Hotel
Outspan Hotel
The Outspan Hotel is in Nyeri, Kenya. It was built up from an old farm by Eric Sherbrooke Walker in the 1920s. Famous visitors include Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell and his wife Olave Baden-Powell from 1938 until Baden-Powell's death in 1941...
, and the Aberdare Country Club at nearby Mweiga are relics of those colonial days.
Ethnicity and Language
The majority of Nyeri residents are members of Kenya's largest ethnic group, the Kikuyu, with residents generally being known as "Nyeri Kikuyu". The Kikuyu language is widely spoken, along with Kenya's national language, SwahiliSwahili language
Swahili or Kiswahili is a Bantu language spoken by various ethnic groups that inhabit several large stretches of the Mozambique Channel coastline from northern Kenya to northern Mozambique, including the Comoro Islands. It is also spoken by ethnic minority groups in Somalia...
as well as Kenya's official language, English.
Entertainment
Nyeri's main entertainment activity is socialization at the town's many pubs. On a typical weekday evening, all day and night Saturday, or Sunday afternoon, groups of friends of both sexes will sit in pubs, socializing, enjoying alcoholic beverages (mainly bottled Kenyan beer)and meat dishes, watching TV sports and listening to music. Most of Kenya's terrestrial TV and radio channels, transmitting mainly from Nairobi, are available in Nyeri. Most homes have at least one TV and radio. Foreign TV channels are also available, either relayed by local channels, or via satellite. Several entertainment spots, hotels and homes have satellite TV in addition to local television. DVDS, mostly counterfeit Hollywood movies imported from Asia, are cheaply and widely available for purchase or rental.Religion
Though the depth of belief and dedication to religion varies, most people in Nyeri express belief in God. Following the national pattern of Kenya being a predominantly Christian country, Christianity is the main religion. The main Christian denominations are Catholic, Presbyterian, Anglican, Pentecostals and indigenous denominations, in that order. The older residents, who tend to attend the mainstream churches, are invariably more religious than the younger ones. Muslims, traditional African believers and Hindus, in declining order, make up a small minority.About 5 km from the Town Centre is the Mathari Mission settlement, a complex of several Catholic buildings and institutions, established by Italian missionaries
Italian people
The Italian people are an ethnic group that share a common Italian culture, ancestry and speak the Italian language as a mother tongue. Within Italy, Italians are defined by citizenship, regardless of ancestry or country of residence , and are distinguished from people...
at the beginning of the 20th century. The mission is composed of convents for nuns, schools, a teacher training college and other vocational colleges. It also hosts the Consolata Hospital and School of Nursing, which is staffed largely by nuns of the Consolata order.
Education
The town has one university, Kimathi University College of TechnologyKimathi University College of Technology
Kimathi University College of Technology is a public, coeducational technological university in Nyeri, Kenya. It is one of 20 public universities and constituent colleges in Kenya, one of four constituent colleges of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, and it employs a strong...
, which was recently upgraded from a technical college. Various Kenyan public universities and institutes have satellite campuses within the town. in addition karatina university college has been upgraded{2010} making the district to have two universities
The national state Police Training College is situated in the town. There is a Medical Training College, a government nursing school, two polytechnic colleges, and several private and public secondary and primary schools. The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Nyeri runs several schools and colleges in Nyeri.
Economy
The largest formal employer in Nyeri, being until recently the administrative headquarters of the former Central Province, is the Government of Kenya. The local Municipal Council and utility providers are also significant employers. The various sectors of the service industry, including retail, hospitality, banking, insurance, the charity industry, religious bodies especially the Catholic Church and professionals are also significant employers.The main industrial plants are a Coca-Cola bottling plant, a water and fruit juice bottling plant, a number of tea and coffee processing factories, a milk processing and packaging factory owned and run by the Kenya Co-operative Creameries Ltd, and a number of maize millers. There is also a wide range of largely unsophisticated light industries, including motor vehicle repair garages, electronics repair shops, furniture workshops, tailoring shops, and bakeries.
A major industry in Nyeri is farming, which is mostly unmechanized.
The town area is actually part of the surrounding rural areas of greater Nyeri County, with farms within the municipality blending seamlessly into the rural area. The main cash crop
Cash crop
In agriculture, a cash crop is a crop which is grown for profit.The term is used to differentiate from subsistence crops, which are those fed to the producer's own livestock or grown as food for the producer's family...
s are Coffee
Coffee
Coffee is a brewed beverage with a dark,init brooo acidic flavor prepared from the roasted seeds of the coffee plant, colloquially called coffee beans. The beans are found in coffee cherries, which grow on trees cultivated in over 70 countries, primarily in equatorial Latin America, Southeast Asia,...
and tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
, grown mainly by smallholders who are organized into quasi-private state-supported and supervised co-operatives or companies for farm input distribution, basic processing and marketing purposes. The main food crops are Maize
Maize
Maize known in many English-speaking countries as corn or mielie/mealie, is a grain domesticated by indigenous peoples in Mesoamerica in prehistoric times. The leafy stalk produces ears which contain seeds called kernels. Though technically a grain, maize kernels are used in cooking as a vegetable...
, the staple food in most of Kenya, legumes (especially beans and peas), tubers (mainly potatoes), and vegetables (especially tomatoes, cabbage, spinach and kale). Livestock, mainly dairy cattle, goats, sheep, and chicken are also widely kept. Food crop and livestock farming are also done by smallholders, with marketing and distribution of surplus produce (after farmers' own consumption) being done privately.
Tourism is also significant, as there are many tourist destinations nearby, including the Aberdare and Mount Kenya National Parks, and a number of good hotels offering conference tourism and short upcountry holidays.
Infrastructure
Nyeri's roads, a good number of which are tarmacked, still require much improvement, as do street lighting, street marking, sidewalk paving and parking services.Water provision services are quite good, with well-distributed clean and safe drinking water being available straight from the tap.
The sewage system is growing at a good pace, though the use of soak pits, pit latrines and septic tanks is still widespread. The towns sloppy topography allows nature to mainly take care of storm water drainage.
Phone services, especially mobile telephony, and internet services are widely available, increasingly affordable and reliable, with internet speeds and bandwidth improving rapidly following the continuing laying of a fibre optic cable network around the town linking the town to offshore submarine cables recently landed on Kenya's coast; and continued improvement and increasing affordability of phone operator internet provision services.
Electricity provision is also adequate, affordable and reliable.
Transportation
Nyeri is served by a reasonably well-maintained tarmac road network connecting it to NairobiNairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
, Nakuru
Nakuru
Nakuru, the provincial capital of Kenya's Rift Valley province, with roughly 300,000 inhabitants, and currently the fourth largest urban centre in the country, lies about 1850 m above sea level...
, Nanyuki
Nanyuki
Nanyuki is a market town in central-east Rift Valley region of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. It is situated just north of the Equator . It was founded in 1907 by British settlers, some of whose descendants still live...
, Othaya
Othaya
Othaya is a Kenyan town about 150 kilometres north of Nairobi, the capital. It has a population of 21,427, of which 4,108 are core urban ; the majority of the residents are of the Kikuyu tribe. Othaya is part of the Nyeri District. It is an agricultural area with coffee and tea as the main cash crops...
and other surrounding towns. Most transportation of cargo to and from Nyeri is by road, although the town has a largely underutilized railway station at Kiganjo (about six kilometers out of town towards Nanyuki) on the branchline of the railway from Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
to Nanyuki
Nanyuki
Nanyuki is a market town in central-east Rift Valley region of Kenya lying northwest of Mount Kenya along the A2 road and at the terminus of the branch railway from Nairobi. It is situated just north of the Equator . It was founded in 1907 by British settlers, some of whose descendants still live...
, and an Airstrip at Mweiga (about 15 Kilometers out of Town towards Nakuru) and another airstrip at Nyaribo (off the Nanyuki - Naromoru highway). The main mode of public passenger transport to, from, and within Nyeri is by way of fourteen-seater minibus taxis (matatus), though un-metered saloon car taxis are also widely used.
In Town
Nyeri is a popular destination for relaxation, business, entertainment, and educational/cultural tourism. Its pubs offer lively entertainment, the farms in and around it offer pristine scenery, and the grave of the scouting Movement's founder, Lord Baden-Powell and his paxtu cottage are popular attractions.The Italian War Memorial Chapel, located at Mathari,was built in honor of the fallen Italian soldiers and their African recruits from the Second World War. It is used not for regular worship, but only to celebrate a special mass on every 2 November in memory of the fallen soldiers. On the entire walling of the main church building are memorials for the many Italian servicemen who died during WWII. Each memorial is in the form of a small oblong plaque indicating the name of the soldier, the battalion he served in, and the place where he died. At the far front before the altar is the grave of a senior Italian army officer.
Nyeri is the burial place
Baden-Powell grave
The grave of Robert Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell and Olave Baden-Powell is in Nyeri, Kenya, near Mount Kenya. Baden-Powell died on 8 January 1941 and is buried in St. Peter's Cemetery in the Wajee Nature Park...
of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, a fighter in the Boer War
Second Boer War
The Second Boer War was fought from 11 October 1899 until 31 May 1902 between the British Empire and the Afrikaans-speaking Dutch settlers of two independent Boer republics, the South African Republic and the Orange Free State...
and the founder of the Scouting
Scouting
Scouting, also known as the Scout Movement, is a worldwide youth movement with the stated aim of supporting young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development, that they may play constructive roles in society....
movement, who once wrote "the nearer to Nyeri the nearer to bliss". He and his wife are buried in the town cemetery. Lord Baden-Powell's Paxtu cottage, now a small museum, stands on the grounds of the Outspan Hotel. Nyeri remains the home of the worldwide scouting movement with members of the scouting movement congregating in the town from time to time for various activities and functions.
Jim Corbett (hunter)
Edward James "Jim" Corbett was a British hunter, conservationist, author and naturalist, famous for slaying a large number of man-eating tigers and leopards in India....
, the author of Maneaters of Kumaon (1944) who also spent his final years in Kenya.
Mount Kenya
The most imposing landmark around Nyeri is Mount KenyaMount Kenya
Mount Kenya is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peaks of the mountain are Batian , Nelion and Point Lenana . Mount Kenya is located in central Kenya, just south of the equator, around north-northeast of the capital Nairobi...
, and starting from about twenty kilometers out of town is the Mount Kenya National Park
Mount Kenya National Park
Mount Kenya National Park, established in 1949, protects the region surrounding Mount Kenya. Initially it was a forest reserve before being announced as a national park. Currently the national park is within the forest reserve which encircles it. In April 1978 the area was designated a UNESCO...
. Mount Kenya is an imposing extinct volcano lying strategically astride the Equator. The mountain has two main peaks - Batian (5200m) and Nelion (5188m). It is the highest mountain in the country and the second, after Kilimanjaro, in Africa. It has two main snow covered peaks, Batian and Nelion.
Its slopes are cloaked in forest, bamboo, scrub and moorland giving way on high central peaks to rock, ice and snow. Its U-shaped glacial valleys, rugged snow capped peaks, Afro-alpine desert, thirty lakes and eight different natural forest types and a variety of wildlife species make it a convergence of natural attractions. The wildlife found in the park include giant forest hog, tree hyrax, white tailed mongoose, black leopard, bongo, elephant, black rhino, suni, black fronted duiker, mole-rat and over 130 species of birds.
Activities carried out in the park include game drives, nature walks, mountain climbing, wildlife viewing, camping and cave exploration.
The Aberdares
About fifteen Kilometers out of town on the opposite side to Mt. Kenya is the Aberdare National ParkAberdare National Park
- External links :* * * *...
.
The Aberdares
Aberdare Range
The Aberdare Range is a 160 km long mountain range of upland, north of Kenya's capital Nairobi with an average elevation of . It is located in west central Kenya, northeast of Naivasha and Gilgil and just south of the Equator...
is an older volcanic mountain range with shorter peaks due to longer erosion. It offers views of Mount Kenya and the Great Rift Valley
Great Rift Valley
The Great Rift Valley is a name given in the late 19th century by British explorer John Walter Gregory to the continuous geographic trench, approximately in length, that runs from northern Syria in Southwest Asia to central Mozambique in South East Africa...
.
Its unusual vegetation, rugged terrain, deep ravines cutting through its forested eastern and western slopes, clear water streams and waterfalls combine to create an area of great scenic beauty. Its major attractions include the Lesatima and Kinangop peaks and many waterfalls, including the magnificent Karuru falls which drop 272 meters, and the Gura Falls which drop 305 meters.
The park is home to many endangered species including the rare bongo, giant forest hog, packs of the now very rare wild dogs, and endemic mole-rat and mole shrew. Other game include a large population of black rhino, leopard servile, endemic bird species, reptiles and insects.
Activities include game drives and nature walks. Both brown and rainbow trout abound in the cool mountain streams and provide excellent angling. Within the Park, the Ark and the Treetops Lodges, which are located next to watering holes, offer close proximity night game viewing. It was at Treetops Lodge
Treetops Hotel
Treetops Hotel is a hotel in Aberdare National Park in Kenya near the township of Nyeri, 1,966 m above sea level on the Aberdare Range and in sight of Mount Kenya...
that The Princess Elizabeth, Duchess of Edinburgh (now Elizabeth II) was advised of the death of her father while on a honeymoon retreat, and her own ascent to the throne. The park is also known for the Kimathi hideouts, the Mau Mau Caves, and the Kimathi “post office” where agents used to drop messages for Mau Mau fighters during the guerrilla wars for Kenyan independence.
Private Ranches
Close to the town are several privately owned ranches, many of which also serve as private wildlife sanctuaries like Solio RanchSolio Ranch
Solio Ranch or Solio Game Reserve is a privately owned wildlife conservancy located in Kenya's Rift Valley Province.The ranch is a fenced, privately-owned protected area geared toward rhino conservation. The 17,500-acre reserve, 22 km north of Nyeri Town, plays a major part in the protection...
and Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
Lewa Wildlife Conservancy
The Lewa Wildlife Conservancy is located in northern Kenya. It was formed in 1995. It is a wildlife sanctuary incorporating the Ngare Ndare Forest and covering over . The Conservancy is home to a wide variety of wildlife including the rare and endangered black rhino, Grevy’s zebra and sitatunga...
. Many higher-end tourists stay at these ranches, including celebrities such as Prince William
and Bill Gates
Bill Gates
William Henry "Bill" Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, philanthropist, and author. Gates is the former CEO and current chairman of Microsoft, the software company he founded with Paul Allen...
.
Administration and Government
Nyeri is now,as an administrative center, currently in transition as the new governance and administrative structures created by the new Kenyan Constitution are in the early stages of implementation.Central Government
Provincial Administration:Nyeri, as aforesaid, had been the Provincial Headquarters of the now defunct Central Province. The fate of the Provincial Administration is now the subject of intense national debate as the country transits to the new Constitution's new governance structure. In the interim,the Central Provincial Commissioner (PC) remains in Nyeri. Under him remain the District Commissioner, Nyeri Central District (DC), the Divisional Officers (DO), the Locational Chiefs and the Assistant Chiefs.
Government Departments:
Various Central Provincial and Nyeri Central District departments of the various ministries of the Government of Kenya, and central provincial offices of several Kenya Government departments and State Corporations are also still based in Nyeri.
Security:
The Central Provincial Police Officer (PPO) of the Kenya Police Service, and under him, as one of the police divisional heads, the Nyeri Divisional Police Commander (OCPD)are based in Nyeri.
Local Government
Nyeri is administered as a "Municipality" (a larger town yet to attain "City" status) by the elected Municipal Council of Nyeri, which is composed of elected and nominated Councilors led by a Mayor and administered by a central government appointed Town Clerk and other Chief Officers. The Council is based at the Nyeri Town Hall.Parliamentary representation
Nyeri Municipality is a Parliamentary constituency known as Nyeri Town ConstituencyNyeri Town Constituency
Nyeri Town Constituency is an electoral constituency in Kenya. It is one of six constituencies in Nyeri District, Central Province. The constituency was established for the 1988 elections.- Members of Parliament :- Wards :- External links :*...
represented in Parliament by an elected Member of Parliament.
Notable Personalities
A good number of renowned people have hailed from Nyeri County. These include:- Dedan KimathiDedan KimathiDedan Kimathi Waciuri , was a Kenyan rebel leader who fought against the British colonial government in Kenya in the 1950s. He was convicted and executed in 1957 for murder and terrorism....
(The Mau Mau resistance leader) - Wangari MaathaiWangari MaathaiWangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya...
(Nobel Peace PrizeNobel Peace PrizeThe Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:According to Nobel's will, the Peace Prize shall be awarded to the person who...
winner, 2004) - Mwai KibakiMwai KibakiMwai Kibaki is the current and third President of the republic of Kenya.Kibaki was previously Vice President of Kenya for ten years from 1978–1988 and also held cabinet ministerial positions, including a widely acclaimed stint as Minister for Finance , Minister for Home Affairs and Minister for...
(Kenya's current president) - Catherine NderebaCatherine NderebaWincatherine Nyambura Ndereba is a Kenyan marathon runner. She has twice won the marathon at the World Championships in Athletics and won silver medals in the Olympics in 2004 and 2008. She is also a four-time winner of the Boston Marathon...
(Olympic marathon Silver Medalist, world marathon champion, four time Boston Marathon winner and multiple time winner of Chicago and other marathons).